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What a year it has been. As we get closer to the Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations, I have to reflect over the events on our island.

This year has been one of the wettest years since I can remember. Not since 2005 has there been this much rain. There was an island wide drought for years. That has ended. As of this writing, we have had more days of rain, than days of sunshine. That’s not a bad thing. My water catchment tank hasn’t been cleaner. Algae growth is down because the water is replenished. Yes, we drink our catchment water. It is filtrated with Ultraviolet light, rope and carbon filters, and a calcite filter to add minerals. Besides a first flush downspout to capture any debris in the gutters, we also use a nylon stocking to further capture any debris that would make it to the water tank. I’t a clean system where the PH is properly balanced. The calcite filter helps balance the PH. The volcano does throw acid in the air, and gets mixed into the rainfall.

Pele made an appearance in lower Puna. The eastern rift zone of the Big Island. For weeks we were watching spectacular lava flows into the ocean. Lava tubes that started in January of 2017, continued to 2018. Lava was draining Halema’uma’u caldera at Kilauea, and the Pu’u ‘Ō’ō vent. Numerous earthquakes occurred as the lava flowed underground into the ocean. There was a lot of tour boats that went out to view the lava.

Then the large 6.9 magnitude tremor happened, and cracks appeared in Leilani Estates grounds. The disaster unfolded quickly. A large portion of Leilani homes were destroyed. A number of fissures appeared like foot prints across the subsivision. Then they suddenly stopped. Only fissure #8, continued, and sent lava in huge rivers towards the ocean, destroying Kapoho vacation lots.

People were looking for a name for fissure #8. It was seemly unending in its lava flow. Somebody called it Pu’u Leilani. I named it Kawahawalu, which means fissure eight. Kawahawalu formed a cinder cone over 150 ft high, taller than Aloha tower. As the lava flowed into the ocean, it created its own weather system. That wasn’t good. Pele’s hair, a mixture of lava glass that looks like hair. The steam formed hydrochloric acid. Very dangerous, and when mixed with trade wind showers, extremely acid rain. We disconnected our first flush downspouts to prevent the rain water from entering the catchment tank. Still, there was a smoky smell in the air and water.

Eventually, Kawahawalu stopped erupting lava. Everything got quiet. The National Guard tested the air quality and any lava flows. Scientists determined the eruptions had stopped. The Guard dismantled the checkpoints, and allowed people back to their properties. The temporary shelter, Pu’u Honua o Puna, still exists to help people displaced from their property. Many have started rebuilding in other subdivisions. Some homes in Leilani Estates are total losses. Others are spared, but surrounded by hardened lava. The Geothermal electricity plant is permanently shut down. It’s a completely different island. There are still lava flows deep under neigh the ground. Steam seeps up from the ground. The highway, Rt. 130, by Leilani Estates still has steal plating on the road, and steam still emits from the ground.

Air quality has cleaned up remarkably. The amount of acid rain has fallen below levels before the eruptions. Kilauea, Pu’u ‘Ō’ō, and Kawahawalu emissions are almost nonexistent. The lava flow into the ocean created a huge new Black Sand beach which stretches from Kapoho to Pohoiki boat ramp. Remarkably, Pohoiki was spared, but surrounded by lava. Large D9 bulldozers have been clearing the roads of lava. Incredible efforts by the country of Hawai’i to restore access to the affected areas. Such is life on a volcano.

So far, we’ve survived volcanoes, hurricanes, floods, and tourists. Just kidding about the tourists. It has been an interesting year, and it’s still not over. The whales have arrived back to the islands. The rain continues, and that’s a good thing. The sky weeps, the earth lives, Uē ka lani, ola ka honua.

I suddenly realized that I’ve been giving back to those in the community without realizing it. Volunteering my time, donating money and food, helping out those that have lost everything. Little things that add up. When my avocados produced more than I could use, I gave them away. Like much of my produce on my small farm, the rain, combined with what sun we had, produced an abundance. Why let it rot on the ground? Better to just box it up and drop it off. I hate things going to waste.

The chickens always find a new place to roost and lay eggs. Sometimes we get more eggs than we can use. So, we give them away. Some people see their eggs a 5 dollars per dozen carton. When the stores sell mainland eggs at half the price. It all local living, and giving back.

The season of giving is year round. Sometimes, in the course of just getting around daily living, you don’t see the little things. Until you start adding things up in reflection, you really don’t notice. I guess that’s the way it should be.

Like this:

Kāwahawalu

It’s a great name for the active fissure that continues to pour lava into the ocean from Leilani Estates. It literally means ‘Fissure Eight’.

Currently, Fissure eight splatter cone is over 180 feet high. To put that in perspective, Aloha Tower is 184 feet tall, that’s ten stories high. The eruption has destroyed over 600 homes since May 3, 2018.

There are Twenty-Four fissures that have opened up in Leilani Estates. Only one continues to erupting rivers of molten lava at an astonishing rate that swallowed several subdivisions in the Kapoho area in lower Puna district. All the fissures did erupt lava, but eventually either slowed or stopped. Only fissure eight continues to be very active. Fissure eight continues to flow lava that have reached the ocean. The amount of lava has created its own weather system. A deadly system that includes poisonous hydrogen-sulfide gas, clouds of LAZE.

Laze — a combination of the words lava and haze — is the product of a chemical reaction that happens when molten, 2,140-degree-Fahrenheit lava hits the ocean. The sea water gets boiled, creating a messy mix of hydrochloric acid, steam, and tiny glass particles.

Credit – Big Island Video News – USGS – Hawai’i County Civil Defense

While this is of great concern for residents of lower Puna, a greater concern is looming some 20 miles away at the Kilauea caldera. As the caldera continues to sink into the crater, there is a concern that the lava and the underground water-table will combine. If that happens, it will cause a huge explosion, with huge rocks projectiles as large as cars sent for miles. A plume of hydrochloric acid will ascend thousands of feet into the atmosphere.

Since the beginning of May, 2018, when the fissures appeared, the floor of the Kilauea caldera has been sinking, daily. Each event has produced a 5.3 magnitude earthquake around the Volcano area. Earthquakes powerful enough to damage buildings, roads, and the surrounding village homes.

Geologists have warned that this explosive event could cause a very large earthquake that could cause a major Tsunami. Also a land slide from the lower rift into the ocean. The last time something like this happened, in 1975 when a magnitude 7.7 earthquake occurred, the Kapoho tide pools were created. It cause the ground in the Kapoho area to sink into the ocean. Today, the Kapoho tide ponds are no more. They have been reclaimed by Madam Tutu Pele. The area is now all black Pāhoehoe (smooth lava) and ʻĀʻā (rough lava). Both the ocean life and land vegetation is dead. All that remains, is newly formed land by lava. This is what the tide pools used to look like.

Kapoho Tide Pools

This was one of the hidden gems in Hawai’i. Warm tide pools where shallow enough to wander out. You could see little fish and shrimps scrambling around. It was peaceful and calm. You could either sit on the rocks, or in the tide pools. Eventually, this all will return, when Madam Tutu Pele decides to rest.

I don’t know which is worse. The fact that people who have either lost their homes to the lava, or the people that are robbing and vandalizing home of evacuees. These cock-a-roaches that steal from homeowners are truly disgusting and I hope they get caught. It is a felony if they are caught.

Meanwhile, we have must be ready to evacuate at a moments notice. We worry about the direction of the trade-winds, and if VOG and Pele’s Hair should appear (Pele’s Hair – fine threads of volcanic glass, formed when a spray of lava droplets cools rapidly in the air.) It looks like hair, but it’s glass and sharp. You don’t want to breathe that stuff in. So much for life on a volcano.

Hau’oli Lā Hānau President Trump! Today is President Donald J. Trump’s birthday, and we wish him a happy 72 years plus.

Today, the President of the United States has signed an approval for Hawai’i’s Governor David Ige’s request for assistance for residents that lost their homes and property in the Kilauea volcanic eruption.

According to the State of Hawai’i :

On Friday, June 15, a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Disaster Relief Center will be set up at Kea‘au High School in Kea‘au, where county state and federal agencies will initially gather information from residents who have suffered losses.

The President also granted emergency declarations and assistance to residents affected by the volcanic activity back on May 3rd. Eligible residents affected by the volcanic disaster are encouraged to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) Individuals and Households Program (IHP). This will help tremendously for the people of Hawai’i Island that lost everything in the lower Puna district.

The State of Hawai’i is also looking at opening State Lands to allow people to rebuild in Lava Zone 3. Those property owners of Leilani Estates, Kapoho, and other affected subdivisions (Lava Zone 1), will receive assistance and compensation for the value of their property that was reclaimed by Madam Tutu Pele. This will generate new construction and jobs.

Fissure #8, located in Leilani Estates, is pumping lava out. Spouting lava at 250 feet, and the newly formed cone is 160 feet high. The lava river reaches all the way to the ocean. Where VOG (Volcanic Smog) and LAZE, hydrochloric acid mixed with fine particles of glass formed by lava vaporizing into the seawater. Very dangerous and nasty stuff.

In other good news: The Economy is roaring, North Korea is behaving, The United States will host the World Cup, and Joblessness is at a 44 year low! The FBI gets slapped by the Justice department over former director Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton investigation. Exposing the leftist corruption within the Mueller investigation by lawyers and FBI investigators. Text messages that reveal collusion and criminal conspiracy to overthrow a Constitutionally elected President. An agency that is suppose to be politically neutral, was conspiring to frame the Trump administration. The Barry Obama, and Clinton, weaponized justice department is exposed as the corruption within the Deep State.

Also exposed was Hillary Clinton’s email server that was hacked by several ‘Bad Characters’, the inspector general’s term. This means, anyone from the Russians, Chinese, North Korean’s, and some guy living in his parents basement, all had access to Top Secret Classified emails. Somehow, this ‘matter’ was swept under the rug by the Barry Obama justice department. Clinton should be in prison and fitted with an orange jumpsuit. I still want those involved prosecuted. Obama, Clinton, the FBI, and the DNC, all should be prosecuted. If it were anyone else, they would be sitting in prison. Our legal system holds a different standard for others, and that has to change.

The leadership in the deeps state is a rotten fish, it stinks. It was rigged, it was corrupt, and it received political preferences. Because they all believed that Hillary would win the 2016 election. Now, these crooks are being exposed. That’s good news.

It’s also scary news. Because this was conducted by the upper echelon of our government. They have the power to destroy innocent people, and they have during the course of the Mueller, and other investigations. Something must be done to make an example of these evil people. This is corruption beyond anything ever seen before in American history.

I must make a comment about the immigration issue the democrats have found themselves painted into a corner. Suppose a family, composed of parents, and young children, and the parents are convicted of a crime. What happens to their children? That’s right, the courts take the children away, and put them in foster care. What’s so different about that and illegal aliens? They are breaking the law. The law, as it is written, separates the children from their parents.

FAKE OUTRAGE! By the Fake News Media and the corrupt socialist democrats. They say the Trump administration is ripping apart families. However, that is a leftist lie. The Trump administration is following the law. Democrats wrote the law. So, selective outrage by anti-American media and socialist democrats falls on deaf ears, and deserves little sympathy. Even the idiot Republican RINO’s are scrambling to put up legislation to grant amnesty to millions of illegals. I hope that Trump Veto’s any bill that grants legality to people that have violated our laws.

You cannot have a country without borders. Other countries jail illegal aliens. Where’s the outrage? It’s the continuing double standard the fascist left wants to impose on this country. We must build a wall to keep people out. We have a process for entry into this country. Allowing open borders will only exploit people, destroy families, increase crime, and hurt the general welfare of the citizenry.

Here on the Big Island, in the lower Puna district, the Kapoho and Kalapana areas, are about to be cut off by lava. It’s a place called “Four Corners”. The intersection of highways 137 and 132 will soon be covered with lava, cutting off access to Red Road. Evacuations have begun.

I will miss the tree tunnels on Red Road (Hwy 137). They will either be cut off forever, or until the lava stops and the Honua cools. The shoreline is absolutely stunning. With its rocky cliffs and pristine Pacific ocean waters. There’s thousands of miles of ocean between East Hawaii and the Mainland America’s. The trade winds reach here first, and the air is the freshest in the world. The Pacific ocean doesn’t smell salty like the Atlantic ocean. There’s a deep blue hue within the water, with clear, but turbulent frothing, that warns of the power of Kanaloa.

The Lava Glow With Full Moon

However, now it’s Tutu Pele’s time. Her footsteps in Leilani Estates have destroyed over 80 structures, many are homes. In the above picture, I’m looking towards Pāhoa town towards the Lava in Leilani, the next town south from Pāhoa. There’s a full moon tonight with scattered rainfall. Luckily, the tradewinds are blowing westward from us. However, this is is affecting the lower Ka’u district towns of Pahala, Na’alehu, Waiohina, and parts of Kona. However, it’s has been that way long since the eruptions. We pray for them.

Ahalanui Park- Hot Springs

A popular spot for locals and tourists. The hot spring park of Ahalanui will be no more if the lava reaches this area. Naturally heated by underground lava flows, the water is warm and inviting. It sits right on the edge of the ocean where the Pacific sea waters feed the natural pond. In the map below, this park is just above Isaac Hale Park. Where the map lists Kapoho, and where four corners are located. The Hawai’i civil defense reports the lava flow is a half mile away from where four corners is located. The lava is fast moving. The lava is pāhoehoe (smooth) and fast moving. The lava has entered Puna Geological Venture (PGV) and covered two wells. So far, there has not been any hydrogen sulfur dioxide gas releases. We’re praying that Tutu Pele will move past what she’s reclaimed.

In the following video (credit Big Island Video News and USGS), note how the eruptions has killed the forest land around the Leilani fissures. The lava fountain is shooting 250-300 feet into the air. There are two lava ponds that have formed in the rift zone by the fissures. It all looks horrible, but a closer look at the map and you’ll see this has happened many times before. You live here, you know what you are rolling the dice for. Locals do what’s needed to help each other out. It’s what we do. Some of us do so very quietly.

Four corners is like a life experience. You stand at the crossroads of life. In life, there are no guarantees. No securities. The best you can do is to prepare. Plan for a disaster. Have a emergency kit to grab quickly in an emergency. Know what you need, who to call, and where to meet, to save yourselves and your family. Don’t rely on the government to help you. When you need the police: They’ll be there in minutes, when you have only seconds.

Now for some venting. The Fake News Media: ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, New York Slimes, New York Posts: All have falsely reported the activity on this island. This is journalism malpractice at its worse. This irresponsible crap has scared off tourism. This is an industry that employs many local people. It’s their livelihood. Yet the Fake News Media reported the island is blowing its top. Thanks media jackasses!

In our Constitution, there is a First Amendment provision for the media. Abused by leftists, that rather report half truths, and complete lies. There is no intellectual curiously with the Fake News Media. It’s all for TV ratings now. It’s like Joseph Goebbels Nazi propaganda of telling a lie often enough, eventually people will believe it. That’s what’s happening now in American news and entertainment.

Just like ABC’s decision to cancel the Roseanne Barr show. We all know Roseanne Barr is not a conservative, but the show is wildly popular with conservative working families. However, because of the popularity of the show’s middle America profile, and it’s President Trump leaning message, its struggling working family message for middle America, the executives at Fascist ABC decided to cancel it. Because of a tweet. BIG DEAL! Do you know how many racist hate-filled tweets, videos, and comments, by leftists that get ignored? IT’S A DOUBLE STANDARD!!!

ABC was already planning to tone down Roseanne’s show’s Pro-Trump, Pro-America, dialog down. They were just looking for an excuse to shut the show down. They got it, and immediately aborted. Yet, the fascists at ABC allow their other programs, like “The View” to continue to pollute the airwaves. Pure Leftist Hatred towards the American family. There are very few shows on network television that have a strong positive family message. Unlike many of the leftist shows that display open immorality. Both comedies and dramas. There once was a time when entertainment television had a moral message to the show. Some semblance of basic common decency and common sense. Those days are gone now. Which pushes the ratings of viewership down also. They are destroying their own product. I call this the cultural suicide of the American society. The rape of the culture. The media’s lack of intellectual decency for ratings adds to the coarseness in public discord.

When the executives at ABC/Disney decides to hire (for the sixth time) fascist foulmouthed Keeth Oberdouche, and allow the other racist, bigoted, fascist, trained monkey’s, to plant their mugs on my television set, then it’s time to find a more objective media for news and entertainment. Let’s not exclude Fox News and Shemp Smith, the Rachael Madkow brand of Fox Faux News Media. To hell with them all.

Pele’s footprints continue to appear in the Leilani Estates subdivision. Lanipuna, an adjacent subdivision, was evacuated due to high levels of poisonous sulfur dioxide gas. It’s an eerie feeling when the emergency notification goes off on everyone’s cell phones all at once. Since the 6.9 earthquake, hundreds of aftershocks have occurred. Several new fissures have also appeared with new lava flows and dangerous gas.

The graphic above shows the Leilani Estates and Lanipuna subdivisions. Each triangle is the site of a fissure and lava flow into the subdivision. Each triangle has a number in the order which the fissures appeared. The squares show where the roads have been closed. Although evacuations were mandatory, several people have opted to remain in the subdivision. The lava is what we call pāhoehoe (smooth).

To date, there has been 15 fissures. 116.57 acres covered by lava. 36 structures destroyed. A emergency site has been created that has water, food, supplies. It has been named Pu’u Honua o Puna (roughly translated “Earth Needs of Puna”). It is accepting donations and volunteers to help the residents of Leilani Estates.

Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV) – Photo Credit USGS

The Geothermal plant has been shutdown since the lava breakouts. According to county officials, Puna Geothermal Venture, or PGV, “has completed the removal of all pentane gas offsite as of 3:15 a.m. this morning to Shipman Industrial Park.” That required special vehicles to move the flammable gas. Although the plant is secure, the wells are drilled deep into ground. If a well should be compromised by lava it could release large plumes of sulfur gas. It could trigger a mass evacuation of the Puna district.

Never let it be said that the entrepunurial spirit isn’t alive and well as these t-shirts demonstrate. The down side is how established organizations like the Red Cross has again been criticized for stocking supplies and not distributing supplies to people in need. It’s one of the reasons why we don’t support or donate to the Red Cross. They take your money, and your donations, but very little gets to the people in need. The coconut wireless has been a better resource for addressing the needs for the people displaced by Pele’s wrath.

For every good, there’s the bad. Hawaiʻi Island police have arrested a Pāhoa man in connection with the burglary of a residence in the Leilani Estates Subdivision. The Mayor’s office issued a a zero tolerance proclamation earlier warning anyone caught looting and vandalizing will be charged with a felony.

Section 708-817 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes provides that if a person commits the offense of burglary of a dwelling during an emergency period proclaimed by the governor or mayor pursuant to chapter 127A and within the area covered by the emergency period, the offender is subject to a Class “A” felony, punishable by up to 20 years of incarceration.

GOOD!

Our next concern is the lava in the lava level in the Kilauea Halema’uma’u crater dropping below the water table. This would cause a large explosion that could throw large boulders miles away. A large ash and steam plume would generate dangerous gasses. As a precaution, the Volcano’s park has been closed.

PRAY FOR PUNA

Like this:

Pele’s home has been known as Halema’uma’u – the pit where the lava is active on the slope of Mauna Loa. The Kilauea caldera where recent volcanic activity has been present. Also the Puʻu ʻŌʻō vent where lava has spilt over from time to time over the land. It’s all apart of the volcanic system on Mauna Loa. Kilauea and Puʻu ʻŌʻō are the offshoots of Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano in the world.

Pele’s foot prints are now in Leilani Estates. Over 26 homes that have been destroyed and more than 10 fissures have appeared in Pele’s wake. USGS estimates 370,000 square feet of lava has spread throughout the subdivision. People were allowed today to return to their properties to retrieve their pets, important papers, and personal valuables.

I captured this screen shot from Hawai’i Volcano Observatory. USGS shows today’s earthquakes, 156 out of 1533 over the month. The site will capture many more after this posting. Each dot is a recorded location of each earthquake epicenter. The magnitude and depth is recorded at the HVO website.

What’s eerie is the sound of the lava spattering and the coqui frogs chirping in the forest. Is it so surreal, almost Armageddon in scope.

The latest from Hawai’i County Civil Defense

Sunday, May 6th, 2018

What was also interesting was the color of the ash plume from Kilauea. It was pink in color.